i was just reviewing what we picked and what was available and it just reminded me how horrible the draft was...... fist round gosider i would taked talib or chris johnson over him and second round dizon who hasent did to much well just had to vent hope drafts from here on out are alot better!!!

November 11th, 2009, 1:02 pm

Pablo

RIP Killer

Joined: August 6th, 2004, 9:21 amPosts: 10024Location: Dallas

Re: 08 draft

dmudd wrote:

i was just reviewing what we picked and what was available and it just reminded me how horrible the draft was...... fist round gosider i would taked talib or chris johnson over him and second round dizon who hasent did to much well just had to vent hope drafts from here on out are alot better!!!

I didn't like the Gosider pick when we made it, and he hasn't done much to change my mind. I think he was a 2nd/3rd round talent that we reached for, and that's about the level that he's played up to. He was kind of a "dark horse," or "out-side-the-box" pick with a "lot of upside" with some "coaching up" that never really panned out. Sam Baker and Jeff Otah were rated better by most draft sites and scouts, and they've both looked better than Gos. Gos. has looked like nothing more than a younger George Foster...

November 11th, 2009, 2:07 pm

conversion02

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Joined: January 26th, 2005, 9:34 pmPosts: 10946Location: Sycamore, IL

Millen was likely going of Senior Bowl hype.

Gos was an absolute monster at the Sr Bowl. That's when he caught my eye and I thought he could slide into the 1st round. Millen reached and passed up Brandon Albert

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November 11th, 2009, 3:46 pm

wjb21ndtown

conversion02 wrote:

Millen was likely going of Senior Bowl hype.

Gos was an absolute monster at the Sr Bowl. That's when he caught my eye and I thought he could slide into the 1st round. Millen reached and passed up Brandon Albert

Brandon Alber, Sam Baker, and Jeff Otah... Three OTs all better than Gos... Which is the same story for the entire Millen era...

The sad thing is that the 2008 draft was probably the best one that Millen ever had. An argument could be made for 2001 though.

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November 12th, 2009, 12:20 pm

m2karateman

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Joined: October 20th, 2004, 4:16 pmPosts: 10408Location: Where ever I'm at now

Normally I would support a trade down like what Millen did in the first round of 2008. However, he passed on a very good, versatile player at a position of need, in favor of an over-hyped, limited player at a position of need.

Branden Albert could have played any one of four spots along the offensive line, immediately. Gos is a pure RT in this league, and has shown that he is not a top tier RT either.

Duane Brown is a starter at LT. Sam Baker is a starter at LT. Jeff Otah is a better starter at RT. We could have had any of them, and all of them were rated higher by most draft analysts at the time Millen reached for Cherilus.

I would have preferred Antoine Cason over Aqib Talib....but whatever. Our CBs are a joke, we have no developmental players among them, and our LT position is a laughingstock.

Thanks Mustache.

November 12th, 2009, 3:56 pm

wjb21ndtown

m2karateman wrote:

Normally I would support a trade down like what Millen did in the first round of 2008. However, he passed on a very good, versatile player at a position of need, in favor of an over-hyped, limited player at a position of need.

Branden Albert could have played any one of four spots along the offensive line, immediately. Gos is a pure RT in this league, and has shown that he is not a top tier RT either.

Duane Brown is a starter at LT. Sam Baker is a starter at LT. Jeff Otah is a better starter at RT. We could have had any of them, and all of them were rated higher by most draft analysts at the time Millen reached for Cherilus.

I would have preferred Antoine Cason over Aqib Talib....but whatever. Our CBs are a joke, we have no developmental players among them, and our LT position is a laughingstock.

Thanks Mustache.

I agree 100%

November 12th, 2009, 4:16 pm

Stallion

Play by Play Announcer - Al Michaels

Joined: October 15th, 2005, 12:45 pmPosts: 1834

I haven't heard glowing reports of the play of Baker, Brown, Otah, and Albert lately. However they are still probably playing at a higher level then Goz. I like Goz the best out of the RTs for that draft but that was mainly becuase I thought he had the best tools to have some sucess with zero coaching which is what he got from our horrible staff at the time. I still think that with some better coaching he could imrpove and him and Peterson solidifying our right side.

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November 12th, 2009, 4:16 pm

wjb21ndtown

Stallion wrote:

I haven't heard glowing reports of the play of Baker, Brown, Otah, and Albert lately. However they are still probably playing at a higher level then Goz. I like Goz the best out of the RTs for that draft but that was mainly becuase I thought he had the best tools to have some sucess with zero coaching which is what he got from our horrible staff at the time. I still think that with some better coaching he could imrpove and him and Peterson solidifying our right side.

I don't know how anyone can hear that guy talk and think that he is coachable at all. I don't know what his IQ is, but his communication skills come off way worse than Oher.

November 12th, 2009, 4:28 pm

Strawberries&Chocolat

National Champion

Joined: April 12th, 2005, 12:35 amPosts: 881Location: Boston, MA

The 2008 Draft looks much worse this year than it did last year. Gosder Cherilus has not played well, as documented here. Jordon Dizon was a small, unathletic linebacker who was way overdrafted at the top of the second round because of his Marinelli-esque "intangibles."

Kevin Smith looked like a pretty good value pick at the time. But if he keeps up his performance of late, it is only a matter of time before he gets benched. Cliff Avril has not been a disappointment by any means, but as a rookie he looked like he might be a breakout player, and he has really plateaued this year.

And, of course, the Lions didn't draft a single player worth their salt after the third round (excluding, of course, Caleb Campbell who is serving our country, but was still a wasted pick).

Joined: October 20th, 2004, 4:16 pmPosts: 10408Location: Where ever I'm at now

Stallion wrote:

I haven't heard glowing reports of the play of Baker, Brown, Otah, and Albert lately. However they are still probably playing at a higher level then Goz. I like Goz the best out of the RTs for that draft but that was mainly becuase I thought he had the best tools to have some sucess with zero coaching which is what he got from our horrible staff at the time. I still think that with some better coaching he could imrpove and him and Peterson solidifying our right side.

In all reality, when do you hear ANY reports about an offensive lineman in the NFL, unless it's a rookie who is performing well? Baker and Brown have been playing well. Otah....I haven't watched any Carolina games this year, but I haven't got any reason to believe he isn't playing well.

Branden Albert, he's playing on a pretty bad offensive line right now. KC waited entirely too long to start accumulating young offensive line talent in the previous administration. Now they're suffering for it.

I realize that the NFL is a "what have you done for me lately" business, but at least those four guys showed last year that they have the potential to be dominating players. Goz has shown nothing of that sort.

What really upsets me about the 2008 draft, outside of the consistent reaching and over-valuing that Millen/Marinelli did, is that players I liked fell in that lottery, and we could have had them. I had Tashard Choice rated higher than Kevin Smith. I wanted the Lions to take him, but NOOOOOO!

I also liked Carl Nicks, who is now a dominating guard for the Saints. He fell to the later part of the fifth round. The Lions could have taken him instead of wasting a pick on Kenneth Moore earlier in that round.

Another player I wanted the Lions to take, Orlando Scandrick, we could have had him in that same round. He's starting for Dallas now. I wanted the Lions to take him as early as the third round.

I was wrong about some players, of course. I thought Landon Cohen wouldn't amount to anything, but he's doing pretty well for a 7th rounder. I thought the Broncos were crazy for taking Eddie Royal as early as they did, and I thought Mario Manningham would be nothing but a pedestrian slot receiver in the NFL.

It's just further evidence of how poor of an evaluator of talent Millen was, and how egocentric he is. My understanding is that he OFTEN ignored the coaches and scouts to take the player he liked. And the times he chose to listen to the coaches, such as the Brian Calhoun pick for Mike Martz, the coaches couldn't have been more wrong.

But afterall, this is the Lions we're talking about. Should we expect anything different after all these years?

And, of course, the Lions didn't draft a single player worth their salt after the third round (excluding, of course, Caleb Campbell who is serving our country, but was still a wasted pick).

Did you forget about Jerome Felton (5th round) and Landon Cohen (7th round)?. I'm not saying that they're great players, but atleast they're still on the team and playing. Just the fact that 7 players from that draft are still on the roster makes it one of Millen's better drafts. If he could have done that in his previous years, the Lions wouldn't be in the poor condition that they find themselves in today.

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November 14th, 2009, 11:06 am

Stallion

Play by Play Announcer - Al Michaels

Joined: October 15th, 2005, 12:45 pmPosts: 1834

Quote:

In all reality, when do you hear ANY reports about an offensive lineman in the NFL, unless it's a rookie who is performing well? Baker and Brown have been playing well. Otah....I haven't watched any Carolina games this year, but I haven't got any reason to believe he isn't playing well.

Branden Albert, he's playing on a pretty bad offensive line right now. KC waited entirely too long to start accumulating young offensive line talent in the previous administration. Now they're suffering for it.

I realize that the NFL is a "what have you done for me lately" business, but at least those four guys showed last year that they have the potential to be dominating players. Goz has shown nothing of that sort.

Most of what I heard was from fans of other teams...of course it has to be taken with a grain of salt. However I agree that they have definatly shown more then Goz but I still have some hope for Goz.

Quote:

I also liked Carl Nicks, who is now a dominating guard for the Saints. He fell to the later part of the fifth round. The Lions could have taken him instead of wasting a pick on Kenneth Moore earlier in that round.

This was definately the worst pick of that draft. Nicks was a 1st round talent IMO.

_________________2011 Adopted Lion: Rob Sims/Looking for a side job at I.H.O.P because he can't stop making pancakes.

November 14th, 2009, 12:08 pm

inheritedlionsfan

League MVP

Joined: January 13th, 2006, 4:18 amPosts: 3676Location: Maryland

Oh man I wanted Nicks in the third round. When he kept falling I was hoping we'd pick him up.

On the OT debate, prior to the draft Albert was getting a lot of press for being able to play both OG and OT and I wanted him as a future LT. However, in KC his play has been pretty poor and I think he'll be moved to guard at some point.

As for Duane Brown, everyone laughed at the Texans when they used a first round pick on him and he was considered a reach, especially because he was a converted TE. Baker was also considered a reach in the first. Otah was rated higher than Goz but Otah had his share of issues. Brown and Baker are playing well at LT, but the Lions were drafting a RT here because of their man-love for Backus. While I'd rather have replaced Backus, it wasn't going to happen. I didn't want Otah but I think we could have moved down more and still gotten Goz. Right now Otah has been playing better, but I have hope that Goz will step it up.